278 



A VOYAGE TO 



leaving part of it as a terrace^ and, in like manner, 

 where the building rose to three stories, a second ter- 

 race was left, besides the roof of the house, which is 

 invariably flat. The whole has the appearance of a 

 vast fortification. The streets at regular intervals, 

 open at right angles with the river, and their ascent is 

 steep. Between the bank and the water's edge; there 

 is a space of considerable width, rarely covered by 

 the tides; a number of people were seen here present- 

 ing some appearance of the busy bustle of trade, while 

 the border of the river, for more than a mile, was oc- 

 cupied by washerwomen, and the green sward covered 

 with clothes spread out in the sun. Between the sward 

 and the bank, the earth is bare, but some poplar trees 

 are planted with seats underneath,* and this appears 

 to be a kind of mall or promenade. There projects out 

 into the water, a long narrow pier or wharf, composed 

 of a mass of stone and earth, and which is said to have 

 cost the king of Spain half a million of dollars, the ^ 

 stone used in its construction having been brought 

 from the island of Martin Garcia, at the mouth of the 

 Uruguay; excepting at high tides, it by no means an- 

 swers the purpose for which it was intended. To the 

 left of this, looking towards the city, at the distance 

 of a few hundred yards, stands the fort or castle, its 

 walls extending down to the water's edge, and mount- 

 ed with cannon. But, as it is not likely that an ene- 

 my would attempt a landing in front of the city, and 



* I have often in the evenings seen groups of the old Spaniards, 

 (the word old is used to distinguish the European from the Ameri- 

 can) collected here, or wandering about like Stygian ghosts, with 

 a settled something in their looks which language cannot portray. 



